In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
HID: appleir: fix UAF on pending key_up_timer in remove()
appleir_remove() runs hid_hw_stop() before timer_delete_sync().
hid_hw_stop() synchronously unregisters the HID input device via
hid_disconnect() -> hidinput_disconnect() -> input_unregister_device(),
which drops the last reference and frees the underlying input_dev when
no userspace handle holds it open.
key_up_tick() reads appleir->input_dev and calls input_report_key() /
input_sync() on it. The timer is armed from appleir_raw_event() with
a HZ/8 (~125 ms) timeout on every keydown and key-repeat report. If a
key was pressed shortly before the device is disconnected, the timer
can fire after hid_hw_stop() has freed input_dev but before the
teardown drains it.
A simple reorder is not sufficient. Putting the timer drain first
still leaves a window where a USB URB completion (raw_event) running
during hid_hw_stop() can call mod_timer() and re-arm the timer, which
then fires after hidinput_disconnect() has freed input_dev. The same
URB-completion window also lets raw_event() reach key_up(), key_down()
and battery_flat() directly, all of which dereference
appleir->input_dev.
Introduce a 'removing' flag on struct appleir, gated by the existing
spinlock. appleir_remove() sets the flag under the lock and then
shuts down the timer with timer_shutdown_sync(), which both drains any
in-flight callback and permanently disables further mod_timer() calls.
appleir_raw_event() and key_up_tick() bail out early if the flag is
set, so no path can arm or run the timer, or dereference
appleir->input_dev, after remove() has started tearing down.
The keyrepeat and flatbattery branches of appleir_raw_event()
previously called into the input layer without holding the spinlock;
take it now so the flag check is well-defined. This incidentally
closes a pre-existing read-side race on appleir->current_key in the
keyrepeat branch.
This bug is structurally a sibling of commit 4db2af929279 ("HID:
appletb-kbd: fix UAF in inactivity-timer cleanup path") and has been
present since the driver was introduced.